The Northern Lights

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are one of the most incredible natural phenomena. Have you had the luck to see them in person? It’s on my bucket list, and this video makes me want to move it to the very tippy top of said list. Off to search out Northern Lights tours…

P.S. — Did you know there are Southern Lights? They’re called Aurora Australis. And there are auroras on other planets too!

I grew up in Norway where we would see Northern lights most winters. That didn’t make them any less magical, though. We were far enough south that whoever saw them first would rush in and tell everyone else so they could go and get a look too.

Utah (where I live now) is beautiful, but I really miss those dancing lights in the sky.

Yes, this video was taken from northern Norway. My dad was telling me they would see them all winter long when he lived in Tromso. (The sun doesn’t come out for months.) And he never tired of seeing them. He said they’re more like a stream of rainbow colors. So beautiful!

I have seen northern lights at the cottage here in Ontario, but they weren’t as bright and wild as the ones in the video. I wonder where they made the video – I’m guessing Scandinavia by the buildings and the name of the person who made it. I loved watching them. Have you seen this video – I love it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX7p8_z7rjc

I have seen the Northern Lights many times. Living in northern Alberta, they were manifested often. Two experiences stick out though. First we were at a drive-in and suddenly the lights shot or I should say, unfolded across the sky. Lime green, pink, fuschia, orange in rotating bands. Everyone got out of their cars and stood, in awe – mouth open with gasps of wonder. Truly incredible. The second experience was years later as we traveled from southern Alberta to Calgary. They unfurled across the sky – in all the lime, dark green fluorescent colorations. We were on the freeway but many of us pulled off the freeway, and stood outside watching the sky. These two experiences were the most vivid and lasted for a long time. It’s like watching a dragon snake across the night sky and then light shoot up off it’s body. Wonder of wonders.

I live in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. If I am lucky, I get to see them a few times over the winter. We’ve had a lot of Northern Lights ction over the last year which makes for beautiful sights!
I’m not great at capturing them on camera, as you need to go somewhere completely dark (no city lights)… I don’t have that luxury as I am home with my little ones at night…but here is an example I took standing on my front porch in the Fall. They really are amazing :)http://johanna-birdsonawire.blogspot.ca/2012/09/where-i-am.html

To give those in the continental US hope, I would see the Northern Lights quite often when I was in college at Michigan Tech in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was an amazing experience to lay on a beach of Lake Superior and watch such an amazing sight. I hope to take my kids some day so they can experience it as well!

I lived in Alaska for many years so I had the opportunity to see them many times, but it never gets old! Always magical! I worked at a hotel in Alaska, and once an elderly woman came up to the front desk and asked me (mind you this was during the middle of the summer when there is 24 hour light), “Excuse me, when do they turn the northern lights on?” I was asked many strange things at the front desk, such as, “How many undiscovered lakes are there in Alaska?” and “Do you accept American currency here?” I was even complimented on my English once and asked if most people spoke English or Eskimo. So if you go see the lights in Alaska, don’t ask those questions!

I saw the Northern Lights one night in the 70′s while we were driving up to see my grandmother in Northern Wisconsin. My father pulled over to the side of the road, turned out the lights, and the family hopped out to have a good look. Across the road was a hay field completely alive with fire flies, and the Northern Lights were rippling across the sky like ocean waves. The only response to this wonder was silence and a smile.

I saw them fairly often when I lived in Minnesota, but I’ve never seen them here in New Hampshire, even though I live where the stars are gorgeous. Is it terrible that I always felt they were somehow overrated? They can be quite lovely when they are moving fast, though.

https://www.facebook.com/auroraaddict?ref=tn_tnmn is well worth checking out. there are lots of people there who are addicted to the lights too. Also lots of great tips for people wanting to travel out there. Its more accessible than you realise. We have been out twice this year with out 4 children (1 was under a year so not old) once to Iceland and once to Norway. :-) Hope you get to see them…

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My name is Gabrielle Blair. I'm a designer and mother of six. After 2 1/2 years in France, we just bought a home in Oakland, California. We call it The Treehouse. I post on where design and motherhood intersect.

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